IN THE COCKPIT: Andy Lally, Lime Rock

GRAND-AM

IN THE COCKPIT: Andy Lally, Lime Rock

What a year. To be honest, this was one of the most interesting racing seasons of my life...

Andy Lally | Posted October 04, 2012

Andy Lally and John Potter nearly pulled off a win in last weekend's season finale at Lime Rock. (Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM)

What a year. To be honest, this was one of the most interesting racing seasons of my life.

We had our highs and our lows, but the lows were with the blown motors (Road America) and cockpit fires (Watkins Glens), things that we really couldn’t do much about. Of course there were the shoulda, woulda, coulda’s at Montreal and Lime Rock...but our highs were the absolute highest.

We won the 50th Running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona. This is a win that, on its own, would make any racer's year; for some it would make their career. However it didn’t stop there for us. On top of that we added the Inaugural GRAND-AM Rolex Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to our win list. In doing so we also won GRAND-AM’s Inaugural North American Endurance GT Championship. This is going to be a sought after Championship in sports car racing that will live on for many years to come, especially with the merger coming.

It's been an honor to be a part of this team, and it's been great to strengthen a friendship and bond that I’ve had with John Potter since we first raced together in 2009.

In addition to John I’ve been re-united with many old friends on this team. One of them, Tucker Merten, has been one of my best friends through my racing career. We've worked with so many teams together, and he’s been a part of so many important moments in my life; from our first win together in 1999, to winning our first Rolex 24 in 2001, to kissing the bricks at Indy this year.

My engineer, Lars Giersing and I have worked together on different teams and won a ton of Rolex races together. He’s one of the best engineers I’ve ever worked with and someone who understand what I’m talking about (or yelling about) and can usually give me what I want.

Those are just a couple of examples, John and Lorie Bedell, Patrick Dubuc, Stephane Bellerive, Abel Jimenez, Dan Lourenco, Wayne Lollis, Steve Taft, Taylor Bedell, Shannon Davis, Drew Cushman, Sean Heckman, Jessica Bregy, Rob Ilsley, Shannon Bedell, Natalie Buccino, Rusty Loggins, Roque Pastorius, Caitlin Hutchinson, Thad Aagaard, and Kevin Walker all played their part, and it’s truly a special group.

Outside of the races themselves, another reason that this has been one of the most interesting race seasons of my life is due to the kind of team that Magnus Racing is. I've worked with many teams over the years and this one certainly has one of the most interesting outlooks... and I love it.

We take our racing very, very seriously. However we make it a point not to take much else too seriously... and I love that. To put it simply, Magnus Racing goes against the traditional grain of most front running sports-car teams. I think that is the reason that Magnus is quickly becoming one of the most popular teams in the garage.

I would draw this comparison for those who do not know much about Magnus Racing; have you read the short story, The Emperor's New Clothes? We are the child at the end of the story. In a sport full of BS press releases and boring, recycled rhetoric that goes on and on to no end, Magnus stands alone in letting true feelings be known about their results and the events around them, and they do it with humor. It is such a refreshing vibe, and I believe the fans are recognizing it.

I've had a thought in my head all year long but I only told John Potter this last week. I told him he reminded me of a young Rob Dyson with a twist. At first, he wasn't sure if he should take it as a compliment but I assured him it was. Funny enough, I bumped into Rob later that day at Lime Rock, and he asked how I liked the new team I was with. I repeated what I told Potter earlier, and Rob gave me one of his long hard stares and nodded his head.

He wished me luck. I think he approved.

Rob added as we left each other that John was going to have to work his ass off if that was the case. I agreed. I doubt I will be driving for this long, but how cool would it be to celebrate Magnus Racing's victory in the 75th Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona?

Back to this year, I want to close out by congratulating Jeff Segal, Emil Assentato, and the entire Aim Autosport FXDD Ferrari team. Team Principal’s Ian Willis and Andrew Bordin did a great job taking a car that had never been raced in this series, winning their third race of the season, and never looking back. They ran a great effort and had the consistency required to win a championship.

I'm looking forward to next year. Thank you all for following along with me this year, and if you have liked what you read let the guys at SPEED.com know.

I'd love to do this again next year.

Andy Lally is one of the most successful drivers in GRAND-AM history, and one of the highest regarded American sports car drivers on the circuit. As GRAND-AM’s all-time mileage leader, Andy has won four different times at The Rolex 24 at Daytona, three GRAND-AM championships, and has had over 100 starts in the Rolex Series. Beyond road racing, he is also the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year, and even a Classic Luge World Champion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andy Lally

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